I’ve baked this loaf, or some variant of it, so many times I’ve lost count. This bread was born when I first got my hands dirty with flour and water. Its parent—if you could call it that—was originally Chad Robertson’s Tartine loaf with his liquid levain, brought to life, not with intensive kneading, but rather a series of folds during bulk fermentation.
My best sourdough recipe has grown since then. It has developed a personality of its own as I’ve expanded my baking repertoire and investigated the many facets of baking naturally leavened sourdough. It’s taken on and lost traits from many great bakers out there, borrowing from their inspiration and giving me a direction to raise this bread into something of my own. This bread is one that doesn’t entirely taste like anything else I’ve had, and yet, still employs many of the same processes and ingredients.
That’s one of the greatest things about bread: it can taste and look dramatically different just by changing the two hands that create it. Calling this post “my best sourdough recipe” is a lofty claim, but honestly, I do believe this is the best bread I’ve made thus far.
I sometimes revisit a discussion I had with a few readers of this site and their comments: “bread is just bread, it’s something to be eaten and is something life-giving, isn’t that enough?” I agree, but when something becomes a passion for you it’s important to set lofty goals and get excited when breakthroughs are made. Isn’t that the definition of a craft and the relentless honing required?
I’ve taken my best sourdough recipe from its most nascent form to its current stage and can trace through the years each change to its formula or process — and I’m sure I’ll be changing things well into the future as it continues to evolve — a work-in-progress.
Yes it’s excessive in some way, but there’s an excessiveness to ambition as well.
John Mayer
Maybe the actual recipe for this bread isn’t the most important part, but rather, the lessons and insights learned along the way as I continually hone my baking proficiency. I’m not claiming this recipe will yield the perfect loaf every single time, but I dare say it comes the closest for me—and that’s exciting.
This bread is the bread that I want to make the most often, the one my family asks for the most often, and the one I share most often. I have a special place for whole wheat bread, and taste-wise, it might make me want to call that my favorite one day, but the versatility of this bread is pretty hard to beat. In fact, I bake this so often that my freezer has an entire shelf lined with pre-sliced loaves wrapped and in bags labeled pane perfetto.
While the actual formula for my best sourdough recipe is simply a mix of flour, water, salt, and levain, there are many nuances here to pay close attention to; here are a few key things to successfully making this bread:
- An active starter
- An autolyse
- A high hydration
- Sufficient dough strength
- A warm and complete bulk fermentation
- A long, cold proof
Before writing this post, I pulled out my trusty notebook (or use my free baker’s note sheet!) and paged through the handwritten (and flour-ridden) pages to find any scribbled “ah-ha” moments or little notes jotted down in the margin, along with a few curse words peppered throughout, and have bundled them up into this entry (sans curse words to keep it clean). A compendium of sorts containing my insights, breakthroughs, and ah-ha moments.
My best sourdough recipe doesn’t require an exotic blend of hard-to-find flour, a complicated multi-step levain build, or the use of a mechanical mixer. It’s built around making this bread in your home kitchen.
My best sourdough recipe is very highly hydrated and can be challenging. When mixing, be watchful for the signs and adjust the dough hydration to suit your environment and flour. If you’re not used to working with high-hydration dough, please start with hydration somewhere in the middle and slowly work up.
Flour Selection
I’ve tried a lot of flour out there (and am an avid user of freshly milled flour), indeed not everything there is, but I’ve ordered enough now that the UPS guy thinks I might have a bakery in my backyard. I have baked some great bread with Hayden Flour Mills, Central Milling, and Giusto’s. I’ve also had great success with King Arthur Baking high-protein white flour.
I have consistently made incredible loaves with Giusto’s flour; I only wish it were organic. Nevertheless, I find myself ordering a box of it here and there and enjoying the results every time. Of course, as I mentioned before, try whatever is local first (sadly, my source for local, organic flour is no longer available) and whatever you like.
When trying new flour, remember to hold back more water than you might otherwise, and then slowly add it in at the end of mixing or throughout bulk fermentation. Now, on to my best sourdough recipe.
Watch Me Make This From Start To Finish
I absolutely love this bread and make it often, but it can be challenging for first-time bakers. Be sure to watch my YouTube video below for a look at how I handle the dough and every step of the process.
If you’re brand new to baking sourdough, check out my Beginner’s Sourdough Bread recipe; it has in-depth information on every step in the baking process. Then come back and bake this!
My Best Sourdough Recipe
Vitals
| Total Dough Weight | 1,800 grams |
| Pre-fermented Flour | 6.4% |
| Levain percentage in final dough | 17.1% |
| Hydration | 85.0% |
| Yield | Two 900g loaves |
Total Formula
The target final dough temperature (FDT) is 78°F (25°C). This dough loves a warm ambient environment. Try to keep the dough at the listed temperatures if possible; use your oven with its light on inside, your microwave with a bowl of steaming water, or a proofer. I use my instant-read thermometer to check the dough temperature periodically throughout bulk.
For more information on how to calculate DDT, monitor temperature, and maintain temperature have a look at my post on The Importance of Dough Temperature in Baking.
| Weight | Ingredient | Baker’s Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| 852g | Medium-protein bread flour (~11.5% protein, Giusto’s Artisan Bread Flour) | 90.00% |
| 94g | Whole wheat flour (Giusto’s Organic Stoneground Whole Wheat) | 10.00% |
| 710g | Water 1 | 75.00% |
| 95g | Water 2 | 10.00% |
| 17g | Salt | 1.80% |
| 30g | Ripe sourdough starter (100% hydration) | 3.20% |
As I mentioned above, my best sourdough recipe is an extremely high hydration. If this is your first time working with this recipe, reduce the total water or hold water back during mixing to ensure your dough can handle the addition. The amount of water your dough will handle will vary based on your particular flour and environment—play it safe the first few bakes and work the water up gradually once you get a feel for the dough.
My Best Sourdough Recipe Method
1. Levain – 9:00 a.m.
Build the liquid levain in the morning and store somewhere warm around 77-80°F (25-26°C) ambient for 5 hours.
| Weight | Ingredient | Baker’s Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| 30g | Ripe sourdough starter (100% hydration) | 50% |
| 30g | Medium-protein bread flour (~11.5% protein, Giusto’s Artisan Bread Flour) | 50% |
| 30g | Whole wheat flour (Giusto’s Organic Stoneground Whole Wheat) | 50% |
| 60g | Water | 100% |
If you haven’t yet read through my post on my sourdough starter maintenance routine, check it out for some helpful hints on what to look for when your sourdough starter and levain are ripe and ready to use.
2. Autolyse – 12:00 p.m.
This highly hydrated dough can be mixed by hand or with a mechanical mixer (like a home spiral mixer). Either one will yield great results, but here, I’ll discuss mixing this dough by hand.
Mix the flour and water in a bowl until all the dry bits are incorporated, then cover. Ensure all the dry flour is hydrated—store near levain (we want the dough’s temperature to remain warm).
| Weight | Ingredient |
|---|---|
| 822g | Medium-protein bread flour |
| 64g | Whole wheat flour |
| 650g | Water 1 |
3. Mix – 2:00 p.m.
| Weight | Ingredient |
|---|---|
| 95g | Water 2 |
| 17g | Fine sea salt |
| 151g | Ripe liquid levain (see above) |
Add the ingredients to your dough in the mixing bowl that underwent an autolyse. Add the water slowly, in stages, while you’re mixing, and stop adding water if the dough feels excessively wet or soupy at any point.
Perform folds for about 2-3 minutes in the bowl. Grab under one side, pull up and over to the other side, then rotate the bowl a bit and repeat. I do this probably 30 times or so (it goes fast and easy). In the end, the dough should still be shaggy, but it will be more smooth and will start to hold itself together more in the bowl.
If you’re a fan of the slap & fold mixing technique I’ve described in the past, you can do this but be aware that it is difficult at this hydration. It’s best to first slap and fold the dough without adding all the reserved water to get the dough smooth and strong. Then, return the dough to the mixing bowl and slowly add the remaining water while folding the dough.
I find that the correct level of dough strength at this point is important. You want the dough to be smooth, elastic, and strong, but it doesn’t have to be fully developed, and it will still be shaggy. We will continue to strengthen the dough through stretch and folds in bulk fermentation.
Transfer dough to a tub or thick-walled bowl for bulk fermentation.
5. Bulk Fermentation – 2:15 p.m. to 6:15 p.m.
At 78°F (25°C) ambient temperature, bulk fermentation should go for about 4 hours. Perform six sets of stretch and folds during the bulk. The first three are at 15-minute intervals, and the last three are at 30-minute intervals. After these folds (2 hours and 15 minutes have gone by), let the dough rest for the remainder of bulk fermentation.
I stretch and fold more vigorously at the beginning of bulk than usual since it is extraordinarily slack and extensible (due to this recipe’s high hydration and autolyse). Pick up one side of the dough with both hands and pull it up, just before tearing, and fold it over to the other side. Rotate your container and repeat 4 or 5 times. That is one set.
Above, you can see my best sourdough recipe dough halfway through bulk, after about 2 hours. There is no significant rise as of yet, but the edges are beginning to dome downward, and the dough’s texture is smoothing out slightly. We still have several more folds to do and more strength to build.
It is essential that the dough is kept near 78°F (25°C) as much as possible (minor fluctuations up and down are ok). If temperatures dip down too far, you might have to extend the bulk fermentation duration to compensate, and vice versa. Use your judgment, the signs described below, and be flexible.
At the end of bulk, your dough should look very gassy, with some bubbles here and there, and the edges where the dough meets the bowl should be slightly domed. You can see all these signs in the image above.
When you gently shake the bowl, the entire mass jiggles from side to side—very alive. You’ll also notice that compared with the photo at the beginning of bulk, the dough is smoother and holds its edges, folds, and creases more readily (most of the bumps and ridges you see are due to trapped gasses from fermentation).
6. Divide & Preshape – 6:15 p.m.
Divide the dough into two halves and gently preshape each piece of dough into a round. Then, let the dough rest for 30 minutes, uncovered. Act quickly when handling this dough and rely heavily on your bench knife. I try to use my hands as little as possible when dealing with the dough at this point.
7. Shape – 6:45 p.m.
Lightly flour the top of your dough rounds and flour the work surface. With this recipe use a little more flour on the surface than normal, the dough will be extremely sticky and wet. Flip each round and shape into a batard (see notes below) or boule, whatever your preference.
Here’s a video of how I shape a bâtard. With this dough, be sure to use the “slack dough” shaping method since the dough is such high hydration.
I prefer to shape these as batards, and my shaping method is as follows:
- Flip pre-shaped round
- Fold the bottom up to about halfway
- Fold the left side over to about 3/4 to the right
- Fold the right side over to cover left
- Stretch top up & away from the center and fold down to about half (you’ll now have a “letter”)
- Grab a little of the dough at the sides near the top and stretch it over the center, so the dough crosses. Imagine lacing up a shoe where you first grab your laces and cross them over
- Repeat three times from top to bottom (the result will look like a laced up shoe)
- Take the bottom and gently roll the dough up to the top and try to seal it slightly when done rolling
Alternatively, if the dough feels pretty strong, you could shape it by “cinching” up the dough. For more instruction on how to shape this dough as an oblong loaf, see my post on how to shape a batard (with video!).
After shaping, let the dough rest on the bench for a few minutes and then place it into a banneton that is lightly dusted with white flour. You’ll see above my bannetons give the dough plenty of room to relax and expand in the fridge overnight. If your proofing container is on the smaller side, and you find your dough almost spilling over the edges, it might be time for a larger basket.
8. Proof – 7:25 p.m. to 9:00 a.m., the next day
Cover your banneton with plastic and place it in the refrigerator at 38°F (3°C) overnight.
9. Bake – Next Morning: Preheat oven at 8:00 a.m., Bake at 9:00 a.m.
Preheat your oven to 450°F (230°C). Remove the dough from the fridge (there’s no need to let the dough come to room temperature) and uncover. I scored the dough with a single, long slash to get that dramatic opening when baked. I keep the blade at a reasonably shallow angle so the taut skin created during shaping will “peel” back as the loaf rises.
I steamed my oven in my usual way, described here in my post on how to steam your home oven for baking. But you can also bake in a pot or Dutch oven.
Bake for 20 minutes with steam, then remove your steaming pans if baking on a surface or Dutch oven/combo cooker lid. Then, bake for an additional 30 minutes until done to your liking. I like to bake rather dark, so I sometimes extend this second half of baking until I get the crust I’m looking for.
Once your loaf is done, remove and let cool on a wire rack for 1-2 hours. See my post on the best way to store the bread after it’s baked for a few tips on keeping it on the counter and freezing if you think you won’t get through both loaves in a week.
Conclusion
It’s hard to put into words just how much I enjoy this “my best sourdough recipe.” I bake it almost every week (sometimes multiple times if baking for friends and family), and yet every time I pull it from the oven, I smile. The crust color, the open and light interior, only the smallest perception of sour notes, and the way it crunches when toasted. I could go on and on.
The photos to follow are the results of scattered recent bakes that all followed this process exactly and have a slightly different outcome. You’ll notice some are a bit darker, some have more or less flour on them, some expand differently in the oven, and some are taller and some are shorter—that’s the nature of baking.
With baking, every single bake is different no matter how consistent you try to be. It’s the same with my Dad and his Italian restaurant, and the reason I’ll sometimes get a call in the middle of the afternoon: “hey, the pizza dough is incredible today, you should head over and grab some.”
Crust
As a kid, I was known to take slices of bread, cut out the center, and eat the crust. It used to anger my family because they’d reach into the breadbasket only to find slices of only the soft parts. That’s how much I love the crust! Can you blame me, though?
I enjoy bread with a chunky, chewy crust, but this bread with its delicate and cracker-like crust takes the top spot for me. Even though I bake these rather dark, the crust remains thin and brittle, crackling under the slightest pressure. I love using the “heel” (the very end) of this bread to eat soup or combined with hefty slices of cheese. It’s delicious.
Crumb
I think there’s a balance to be had with bread like this. It’s possible to let the crumb open up too much, but for me, this is just right. Scattered open areas with that translucent webbing spanning from wall-to-wall, a dynamic movement to these areas, almost show you how shaping was carried out.
Taste
This bread has an almost imperceptible hint of sour, and because of this, the wheat flavors from the flour come forward. It has an incredibly tender, soft crumb that almost dissolves in your mouth. It’s one of those rare foods whereupon taking that first bite your mouth begins to water.
In the end, bread is just bread. But it’s also the staff of life and has been for thousands of years. It’s is also more than the sum of the ingredients you add to the mixing bowl. It’s how it makes you feel when you give some to a friend, and they grin ear-to-ear as they take a big bite. It’s the knowledge that you created this thing over a few days that once was a lump on your counter and is now an incredibly delicious food meant to be shared. To me, this is real bread and my best sourdough recipe to date.
Buon appetito!
Print
My Best Sourdough Recipe
- Prep Time: 24 hours
- Cook Time: 55 minutes
- Total Time: 24 hours 55 minutes
- Yield: 2 loaves
- Category: Sourdough, Bread
- Cuisine: American
Description
This sourdough bread is one of my favorite recipes. It’s a highly hydrated dough that results in a loaf with an open and lacey interior contrasted by a thin, crispy crust.
Ingredients
Levain
- 30g medium-protein bread flour
- 30g whole wheat flour
- 60g water
- 30g ripe sourdough starter
Main Dough
- 822g medium-protein bread flour
- 64g whole wheat flour
- 745g water
- 17g salt
- 151g ripe levain
Instructions
- Levain (9:00 a.m.)
In a small container, mix the levain ingredients and keep at 78°F (25°C) for 5 hours. - Autolyse (12:00 p.m)
In a medium mixing bowl, add 822g medium-protein bread flour, 64g whole wheat flour, 650g water, and mix until no dry bits remain. Cover the bowl and let rest for 2 hours. - Mix (2:00 p.m.)
To the mixing bowl holding your dough, add 95g water (holding back any as necessary if the dough is too wet), 17g sea salt, and the ripe levain (from step 1). Pinch and mix all the ingredients together and do folds in the bowl for 2 to 3 minutes until the dough smooths and is cohesive. Then, transfer your dough to a bulk fermentation container and cover. - Bulk Fermentation (2:15 p.m. to 6:15 p.m.)
Give the dough 6 sets of stretch and folds. The first three sets are at 15-minute intervals, and the last three sets are at 30-minute intervals. - Divide and Preshape (6:15 p.m.)
Lightly flour your work surface and scrape out your dough. Using your bench knife, divide the dough in half. Lightly shape each half into a round shape. Let the dough rest for 30 minutes, uncovered. - Shape (6:45 p.m.)
Shape the dough into a round (boule) or oval (batard) and place it in proofing baskets. Cover the baskets with a reusable plastic bag. - Proof (7:25 p.m. to 9:00 a.m. the next day)
Cover proofing baskets with reusable plastic and seal them shut. Then, place both baskets into the refrigerator and proof overnight. - Bake (Preheat oven at 8:00 a.m., bake at 9:00 a.m.)
I steamed my oven in my usual way, described here in my post on how to steam your home oven for baking. But you can also bake in a pot or Dutch oven. Preheat your oven with a combo cooker or Dutch oven inside to 450°F (230°C). Remove your dough from the fridge, score it, and transfer it to the preheated combo cooker. Place the cooker in the oven, cover with the lid, and bake for 20 minutes. After this time, remove the lid (you can keep it in the oven or remove it) and continue to bake for 30 minutes longer. When done, the internal temperature should be around 208°F (97°C). Let the loaves cool for 2 hours on a wire rack before slicing.
Notes
This is a very highly hydrated dough. Don’t add in all the reserved water during mixing if it feels like the dough is becoming overly weak, slack, or soupy.
What’s Next?
If you want more help getting an open crumb with this bread, I’ve created a 100+ page book with step-by-step instructions. Learn the best flour to use, the right fermentation schedule, and all my tips in my Bread Baker’s Handbook.
Are you a TPL Member? If so, the handbook is free for you!
2,142 Comments
Hi Maurizio, I’ve done a few incarnations of your beginner’s SD and I’d like to try this. I tend to ignore the levain (sorry!) and use all ripe starter instead. Could I do this with this recipe and what quantity plus water should I go for? Thanks 🙂
That’s fine, Alexis! Whatever work for you and your baking setup. You likely won’t have to add any additional water, this is a pretty highly hydrated recipe, it’ll be just fine.
Hey Maurizio, I’m having trouble getting my dough to hold shape as much as yours. Even at lower hydration (down to 80%), it’s much flatter. I have a feeling my gluten is not as strong. I’m using a proofer and I’m following your timings and temps very closely but my end result is very different. What could be going wrong? Thank you!
You likely need stronger flour or try mixing/keading for longer to develop the dough. I like to use the slap and fold technique.
Hi Maurizio I only started with Sourdough In October, during the lockdown, and have grown my own fairly active starter. I have been making the beginner loaf until now but thought I would try the next step and today baked the Perfect Loaf and have the say the difference is amazing. The bread inside is much more springy and light, the crust is chewy but not too much. I did struggle somewhat with the pre shaping and shaping as it had a tendency to spread and at one point I thought perhaps I may have used too much flour on my hands and worktop but it all appears to have worked out fine. Thankyou
Glad to hear the bake went well, Liza! This is a challenging dough with all the water mixed in, you could try dropping that a tad to see if it helps, too.
My levain didn’t seem to do much after 4 hrs. It’s just flat, and no bubbles/activity. Is that normal?
I didn’t want to waste almost 900g of flour.
You should definitely be seeing some activity in your levain!
HI Maurizio,
Thank you so much for the wonderful recipe and pictures. I’ve been making sourdough for about 3 years (wow that sounds like a long time) but, as a creature of habit, stuck with pretty much the same recipe the entire time. I am now delving into the world of higher hydration sourdoughs and have given this 2 tries. Each time, I’m not able to pre shape or shape into such a structured boule, it very much spreads out a little (or a lot). After the fridge proof, when I invert my dough from the banneton into the pan, it spreads out way more than I’d like, although still produces a wonderful loaf, it’s not as structured as I’d like, and also I’m barely able to score it nicely because it just spreads. Do you have any suggestions?
I see from previous comments that I should try to reduce the hydration by 5% but I like a challenge! I wonder if part of the issue is that my flat is at 19 degrees Celsius and not 25-26. I did extend the bulk fermentation accordingly but just an estimate based on the look and feel.
Thank you again!
You’re very welcome, Laura! Thanks for all the comments. Yes, it sounds like your dough is over hydrated, but you can counter that to some degree by mixing more to develop the gluten in the dough. Try holding back some water during mixing/strengthening, and strengthen the dough for longer before slowly adding in all the water. Then, if necessary, give it as many sets of stretch and folds as you need during bulk. To support the high hydration, the dough must be strong.
19°C is pretty cold! Definitely warm the mixing water to try and get the dough’s final dough temp up around 25°C, then try to keep it warm during bulk fermentation. That will also help bring strength to the dough!
Hi Maurizio – I noticed that this recipe suggests to add the salt to the autolysed dough simultaneously with the levain, whereas other recipes suggest to mix the levain first, let it rest for ~10 minutes, and then add the salt and reserved water. I was curious, was a reason for adding the salt to the autolysed dough simultaneously with the levain? Not sure if that has to do with the high hydration. I am trying this recipe this weekend and, while I would not say I’m anxious (maybe that’s a lie), I am trying to be extra prepared given the high hydration, so I am going to be extra cautious, and add the water carefully!
Hey, Patrick. No, my recipe calls for holding back the salt and levain from the autolyse, I rarely add the levain to the autolyse and never add the salt. But yes, definitely add in the reserved water slowly through mixing!
Check out my guide to the autolyse technique for more info.
Happy baking!
Thanks, and sorry if I wasn’t clear. In step 3, after the autolyse, I read the recipe to mean to add the salt and levain to the dough at the same time (compare to 10-min resting period in step 4 with the Sunflower and Sesame recipe).
Ah yes, that’s totally fine. I sometimes alternate between the two approaches depending on how I’m mixing that day. In the end, either will work just fine. I sometimes like to leave the salt out while I mix for a bit, usually with slap and fold, so the dough doesn’t tighten up so quickly.
Got it, thanks! I added the salt at the same time, per the recipe.
This was definitely a challenging recipe; I went with 80% hydration (rather than 85%) using Giusto’s bread flour and freshly-milled red fife. The loafs didn’t get much of a rise, despite what I think was a fairly solid bulk fermentation (lots of bubbles and dough increased in size by 1/3) and overnight retard. In the end, the crumb was decent, it was a little dense but fairly open and a good amount of medium-sized openings.
I don’t know if my rise is failing because of insufficient steam or something is wrong with the dough. I used the steam method you suggested with lava rocks and drenched towels in a pan but it’s difficult to tell if the steam is enough. On the other hand, the flour seemed to take the dough well, it was fully hydrated and showed signed of strength and extensibility. My starter was ripe and fully active, so I don’t think that’s the issue. I pretty much followed the baking steps in #9 to a T. I’d be grateful for any trouble shooting thoughts on how to improve the rise! I can email images of my loafs if that helps more. I can certainly improve on my shaping and scoring.
Also, this was my first time using Giusto’s bread flour and it seemed to create a fairly tough crust (by my 4th slice my jaw was exhausted). I’m guessing that’s not normal? It tasted great, it’s more complex than KA AP.
I think I’m going to try this same recipe again this week but change two variables: (i) 75% hydration instead of 80% and (ii) KA AP instead of Giusto’s.
I baked this bread a handful of times now and I really love it. I live in Copenhagen where there are plenty of good bakeries like Hart bakery and Juno, and this recipe is the closest I’ve come to replicating their bread. Even more so if I increase the hydration slightly, but I do so carefully since it has sometimes lead to less oven spring, even when adding in a bunch of extra stretch and folds.
For my taste, it could use a little more salt though. If adding more, would I have to ferment longer?
Also the layout of the recipe is slightly confusing when scaling up or down, for example the water is divided between autolyse and mix without percentages and I have to whip out the old calculator an extra time to figure out how to split it up. Same goes for calculating how much flour to use after the levain build as far as I can see?
But thanks for a good recipe and if you have any concrete advice on increasing hydration and still getting decent oven spring
Glad to hear that, Bo! Those are some top notch bakeries, so that’s huge praise. You can definitely add in a little salt if you think it needs the addition. I’d say you could go up to 2% without too much trouble, perhaps with a slightly longer bulk (but that really does depend on other factors, too).
If you take a look at the Total Formula table, that’s all you need to scale up/down the formula. From there you can break out the levain and everything else.
Hey Maurizio – if I were to do this recipe like your “week day sourdough” would I let the levain sit for 7-8 hours? This recipe calls for 5 hours so I don’t want to push it unless you think it can handle it? Thanks!
To make a longer running levain, use less ripe starter in the mix. For 8-10 hours, somewhere around 15% would work.
Hello Maurizio – is there any other way to create a thin crust other than using a very high hydration?
It does depend on the flour you’re using in your recipe as well. I find white flour helps with a thin, crackly crust. Ample steam when baking will also help!
Maurizio (or anyone) Any ideas why the parchment paper is sticking to the bottom of the loaf? I am baking the loaf inside a cast iron pot per the instructions. Should I put rice flour on the parchment paper before the loaf goes in? Thank you in advance.
I don’t use parchment at all – just put cornmeal inside the dutch oven and it’ll come right out. I tried parchment once and it was a nightmare.
Kiran—usually it’s the brand of parchment. Try using Reynolds brand!
Thank you sir!
Hi, So yesterday was my second try with this recipe, I followed your recipe completely. my loaves turned out more flat and very squishy, the scoring didn’t make ears when baked, or really even “open’ it just kinda fused together. . I’m assuming there is too much hydration? if so, how do you know how to change the ratio of water without ruining the dough? 🙁
It could be over hydrated dough or under proofed. There are a few indicators your dough could be under: explosive rise in the oven, dense spots in the interior with potentially scattered large holes, and a gummy texture to the interior. Finally, it’s possible the bottom of the loaf might be slightly bowed upward (like the letter “U” — the top will kind of dome).
Make sure to build your levain from a starter that’s strong and mature (meaning it’s risen to it’s peak height before you take some to use). From there, bulk fermentation is very important! Make sure your bulk fermentation goes sufficiently far, you want the dough to look smooth, it should have risen considerably, and have bubbles here and there — it should look alive. If you tug on the dough a bit it should offer resistance to your tugging, it’ll feel stronger. Give the dough the time it needs in bulk fermentation! If you have to give it another 30m or hour to see these signs, do so. It’s important for this step to go sufficiently far for the dough to have enough fermentation activity before its proof.
Help needed – First time making this recipe AND my first sourdough! Baked in a cast iron dutch oven, looked beautiful coming out of the oven with an inner temp of 203.7 degrees,we live in Colo at 5.000′ and needed addt’l 10 min uncovered to reach that temp. The crumb is slightly moist, tasty though, HELP the crust is really tough – so much so had a hard time thru when slicing. Anxious to try again!
Hey, Jennifer. It’s hard to say what’s happening with your loaves without more details on the bake and the results! Was the loaf dense and tough? Did it spread in the oven?
Hi Maurizio, I’ve been baking sourdough for around a year now and love the process. I wanted to give your high hydration recipe a go and really enjoyed working with the dough, but when it came to shaping it was a disaster! Any further tips on how to shape high hydration doughs into batards (do you add more flour at this stage when its a wetter dough)?
I was concerned about the dough sticking to my banneton (which has happened with some of my lower hydration doughs), so I heavily floured the basket & the dough before refrigerating, but after the overnight proof both of my doughs hadn’t risen like usual & had barely any oven spring (after slopping into the dutch oven) – bit of a disaster really!
I’m thinking maybe they were over-proofed, or my starter wasn’t active enough at the beginning of the process, but especially felt like my shaping was awful? Hope you can help 🙂 ~Thanks for all your recipes & guidance!
Ahh, bummer, Imogen! I’d say try dropping the water in the recipe to make the dough more manageable. If you drop it 5-10% that should help significantly. Then, once you get a feel for the dough, you can slowly bump that back up. It just takes repetition and practice with high hydration doughs!
Hi Maurizio,
I’ve been backing this recipe for about 8 months now and it’s one of my favorites. I’ve made bread for family, friends, and even my professors. Everyone loves it. I got a larger proofing basket for Christmas and was trying to experiment with making larger loaves. How do I increase the recipe to still make 2 loves but make them a bit bigger in volume? Thank you again for sharing these recipes and taking time to answer questions!
-Chloe
Glad to hear that, Chloe! To scale up to four loaves, you can simply double everything in the recipe, but if you want to scale up the loaves just a bit, you’ll have to update the percentages for each ingredient. See my guide to baker’s percentages for how to do this!
Guess my starter wasn’t quite strong enough. Levain on counter overnight may have been a fail. Shouldn’t have used the full 650g water at once in the mix, dough way too wet.
Couldn’t shape it, spread like a pancake.
Tricky removing it from the banneton after overnight cold ferment, lost any shape it had when turning out onto parchment.
Smelled great while baking.
Rose a bit while baking but can cut into it to see crumb just yet until it cools.
Sorry to hear that, Dawn! Yes, you definitely want to see strong signs of fermentation in your starter and levain when you go to use them!
Hi maurizio! Thanks for all your great recipes.
I just made this recipe, Im on bulk atm. Concerning the levain, do you ever have less than you are supposed to? I used a svale, mine look exactly like yours right before mixing in, but I ended up with 145gr instead of 150. Not sure if I need a new scale, something else could have gone worng, or this happens at times?
Let me know what you think.
Thanks!
Nathalie
You bet, Nathalie! Yes, it’s common to come in a little under, especially the way I have them constructed here. Five grams is not an issue!
Thank you! Unfortunately I seem to have gone wrong at some point of the process. Before bulk finished I noticed my dough was very soft, very jiggly and gassy but so soft I was not able to pre shape whatsoever, it just got stuck to the counter and my hand. Couldn’t shape either so I just threw it into the proofing basket and went to bed lol. Is this a hydration issue? Could it be too much water?
(By soft I dont mean smooth, just looked and felt like a blob I guess?) I really thought I had it right at the beginning of bulk because I was stretching it so high.
It sounds like your dough is most likely over hydrated—your flour likely isn’t able to take on quite a much water, and that’s ok! Try reducing the hydration by 5% and give it another go—the reduced water should bring strength to the dough and you’ll feel it immediately. Once you find a suitable hydration, you can try to push it back up (if desired), but as you do, take note of how the consistency of the dough changes: the dough will start to slacken out as you add more and more water, this means you’ll likely have to mix more upfront or add another set or two of stretch and folds during bulk fermentation.
Generally, with an increased hydration, you need to mix longer to develop the gluten in the dough to sufficiently support the water added, but this only goes so far. At some point, the flour you’re using just isn’t able to take on any more water and you’ll essentially have a weak and slack dough. It’s always best to start conservatively and work your way up with hydration as you feel out your flour. This is typically why I recommend holding back water during mixing, adding it in as the dough handles it.
Try to keep everything else as consistent as possible and let me know how the next attempt goes!
Hello again Maurizio, so I’ve been feeding my starter with equal amounts of old starter, flour and water 120 grams each. I’ve been doing this for some time. Then it seemed that I read I don’t need that much stater (60 grams) in the feeding. I did that but it seems less active. Did I do something wrong. thanks
Sounds ok to me! Check out my guide to maintaining a smaller starter for tips and info on this 🙂
Hello again, quick question. I notice most recipes for sourdough bread make two loafs. I’ve been cutting them in half because it seems like a lot of dough to deal with. Is there any down side to what I’m doing?
One more “aha” moment. I finally realized the bulk fermentation is that time where the yeast and bacteria populations are growing to the point of optimal population/nutrient levels for final proofing. Years of laboratory work and this population to nutrients ratio just occurred to me. Makes understanding when to start the shaping and final retarded proofing to begin. Maybe too much knowledge is a hindrance…We’ll see!
Yes, those are important concepts to keep in mind during all of this. It’s possible to bake ignoring all of that, but I find the science behind things helps inform me on the craft.
Well, I started making “My Best Sourdough Recipe”, but later in the evening. It started coming together well, but I was tired, so into the fridge it went. Long story short, it stayed in the fridge for a couple days after I read a retarded pizza dough recipe, but when I brought it out, it was like liquid gluten that would stiffen for a moment, then go liquid again. It didn’t taste sour like the pH was low, but there was no structure. I poured the dough into loaf pans after adding some more starter and giving it a couple hours to get going. I put it into the fridge again to get a little rise and baked it the next evening. As usual, the flavor is outstanding, but no oven spring. Very nice evenly and slightly open crumb, but just not pretty. So much to learn! I ate about half a kilo of the ugly tasty loaf and enjoyed it thoroughly, but would love to make a “beautiful” tasty loaf!
Gotta stay on the ball and get up to work on dough when the time is right and start a dough early enough to do what needs to be done.
Thanks for your ongoing advice and recipes.
Ah! Sounds like it was over proofed by the end, and perhaps also over hydrated—hard to say. Yes, baking does require some adherence to a schedule, but it also does require winging it in the moment, based on how the dough is doing. And the combination of those two things is why I love it so much 🙂 Here’s to the next bake!
I’ve been advised many times to end bulk fermentation after a 25% increase in dough volume, but almost always let it go until it doubled or more in volume. Well, I finally poured the dough out, divided and pre-shaped the dough balls, followed the advice again and did a final shaping and tucked the tight boules and batards into their bannetons and into the fridge they went all with only that 25% volume increase. Skeptically I put these small dough loaves into the Combi-ovens and Voila! Beautifully risen loaves that defied my imagination!
I’m ecstatic!
Awesome to hear that, Peter! Enjoy 🙂
Please can you tell me? When building a starter with whole wheat and/or rye. Is is normal to have many tiny orange specs. Are these SAFE. Something tells me it’s from the wheat and /or rye.
Orange? I’ve never seen orange in my starter. If you’re referring to bits of bran/germ which are usually more on the brown side, that’s totally fine. Usually, if you see pink/fuzzy white/off colors then I’d create a new starter.
Hi Maurizio,
Thanks for this recipe. Just gave it my first go— indeed, the first loaf is in the oven with the lid off now. Problem is, it looks rather “flat”— though it looked like yours (if slightly less bubbly) after the bulk ferment when I put it in the fridge. Any thoughts on how to troubleshoot? Or does this dough just spread more and rise less? Thank you.
It sounds like you likely over proofed the dough or it was over hydrated. There are a few signs your dough could have gone over: sluggish rise in the oven, the score on top of the dough might not open with a nice “ear” and instead just kind of fuse together, the interior will have lots of small holes and perhaps one or two large ones near the top (but no dense areas of unfermented flour), and finally the loaf could be a little on the sour side. Try reducing the proofing period.
Hi Maurizio! I just wanted to tell you how amazing it was to create this dough. High hydration is so satisfying to work with your hands. After making your beginner’s sourdough several times and the seeded sourdough twice, I finally had enough confidence to try your best sourdough recipe. All I can say is wow, what a difference this recipe makes! I just have one question. Would you kindly clarify the timing between proof and baking? The narrative indicates proof for 15-16 hours and to preheat at 9am and bake at 10, but the highlighted shorter version indicates preheat at 8am and bake at 9am. Thank you!
So glad to hear that, Jeanne! I totally agree, it’s a wonderful dough to work with. Sorry about that typo. Really, either one will work just fine. Once the dough is in the fridge, a few hours either way shouldn’t be an issue there. Happy baking!
Hi there,
Can we add any additions to the bread? like cheese or sugar cinnamon? If yes at which stage do we do that?
I have started my sourdough journey about 4 months ago thanks to you, and my family is loving it! Thank you for everything.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
Sorry for the late reply, Dima! Sure, you absolutely could. Adding sugar will have an adverse effect on fermentation, though, so I’d be hesitant to add sugar without other modifications.
Merry Christmas! I had asked a question a few weeks ago about a very bubbly crust. This time is out of control! It’s not a bad thing, necessarily, but seriously, any idea why? Crazy. Never seen this before. I don’t think I can post a photo here but the crust is covered with bubbles, many are a full 1/2″ high.
Happy Holidays to you as well, Zach! That’s usually from a combo of cold proof and lots of steam in the oven. You could try dropping the steam a bit!
Interesting. Well, I’ll just look at it as I must be doing something right. My only steam is from using the combo cooker, so I guess I could reduce the hydration of the bread, but nah. I’ll just be happy with the warts! Thanks.
Hey Maurizio! Love this recipe and it’s my go to! I think it changed recently though, do you remember/know how much bread flour was used in the autolyse stage – I remember all the other numbers off the top of my head. I want to just make sure I have written down the recipe that’s been working for me 🙂
Glad to hear that, Anna! The changes here were so, so minor you should not have a problem with the recipe stated as-is above! Trust me, give it a try 🙂 (and sorry, I can’t remember, I’ll try to find them, though!!). Let me know how it goes and happy holidays, Anna!
I found a version of the recipe I was more familiar with (and very happy with): https://web.archive.org/web/20200410213550/https://slimlife.fit/best-sourdough-recipe/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
There were some process changes as well…I assume in an effort to simplify it a little?
MERRY CHRISTMAS, MAURIZIO…if you celebrate it! I am grateful for your recipes and support. Here are my questions: 1 – How many 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 2 1/2 loaf pans would I use to bake 1 of your 900g loaves? 2 – I received a Brod & Taylor Dough Proofer for Christmas..:)….and a 100% cotton rope proofing basket – can I use that in the B & T? 3 – What is the advantage of using the B & T for proofing, as compared to doing it in the fridge?
Thanks, Mare! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas as well 🙂
1. Hmm, hard to say on those pans, I’ve never baked with something that small! My guess would be two?
2. Congrats on the proofer! Such a great tools. Yes, you can definitely use that basket in there.
3. The B&T won’t cool your dough, it can only heat. So if you’re doing a recipe that calls for a fridge proof (retard the dough), you’ll have to use the fridge. I use the B&T to keep my starter warm and my dough warm if proofing at room temperature.
Hope that helps and happy holidays!
Thanks ever so much!!
Greetings Maurizio,
I just got into baking as a hobby and tried your recipe for the first time the other day. It was a disaster (under proofed and huge tunnels–still trying to figure out where I went wrong). I have a question about adding the levain in step 3. I’ve been playing with Tartine’s country bread, the the recipe has you mix the levain with water to make the dough (skips autolyse all together). With your recipe, when adding the levain, do I just add the levain or should it be mixed in with parts of the 95g of water then added to the dough with the salt?
Thanks in advance!
Cheers,
K
p.s. Your sourdough starter instructions are foolproof. Thanks for helping me start and maintain my first starter yeast.
Ah sorry to hear that, K! Yea, those huge tunnels like that typically indicate under proofed dough. I typically add the levain and salt with some of that reserved mixing water, just to make it easier to mix everything. It’s also helpful to at least have a splash of water to ensure that salt dissolves and mixes in the dough evenly.
Keep at it!
So, I tried your recipe again. Instead of using the printout version of your recipe, I read through your blog recipe–the instructions vary a bit. Based on gauging the feel of the dough and reading the bubbles through the bulk fermentation, I modified a bit, and I ended up with the most delicious bread. I gifted one to my sister-in-law—and it was such a rewarding experience to share the spirit of bread making with family.
Thanks for the recipe–that crumb and gloss are incredibly beautiful. Ah! Can’t wait to try it again for New Years gifting!
Cheers,
K
That’s great to hear, K! Baking sourdough bread really is all about developing your senses and adjusting as needed! Enjoy and happy holidays 🙂
I found that when I cooked at 500 degrees covered 20min and then 475 degrees uncovered 20 minutes with a cookie sheet on rack under bread which prevented burning bottom crust, that I got great oven rise. Why do you think that is? Thanks, it’s a great recipe.
I usually find a high temperature really helps the dough pop up in the oven. I used to have this recipe at 500F but many said the bottom crust was a little too dark. Using your cookie sheet is a great way to solve that!
Can you make the leavain the night before and do autolyste in morning.
You could do that, but you’d have to adjust the levain to run longer. You could make one with something around 10% sourdough starter, 50% whole wheat flour, 50% white flour, 100% water. Then let that run overnight for 12 hours and do the autolyse in the morning.
Hi Maurizio,
Hope all is well, I was wondering if I could try this recipe but with all bread flour and no whole wheat? Would that change the hydration? Thank you 🙂
You could, sure! Typically, I find higher protein flour able to take on more water than lower protein, but that’s not always the case. Because this recipe is so highly hydrated, I’d probably do the recipe as-is, just sub the flour. Let me know how it goes!
Thanks Maurizio! This is going to be my first attempt at a sourdough bread recipe (aside from the foccacia, pizza, rolls, cinnamon rolls, etc) haha but love all your recipes! Trying to move up to your more advanced recipes 🤞🏼. I’ll report back!! Thanks! Happy holidays!^_^
Happy holidays to you as well, Gayle!
So glad to hear it turned out well, Erin! It’s ok with a few mods here and there, it’s quite a forgiving recipe. Plus, it sounds like your instinct came into play and you adjusted just fine 🙂 I’m working on a way for other bakers to post photos and discuss a bit more—stay tuned! In the meantime, happy baking 🙂
Hi Maurizio, hoping you can confirm whether or not I’m crazy- I swear the last time I made this recipe the mix was in the separate steps – first adding the levain, and after waiting, the salt. Also I recall the folds being at 15 min intervals for the first three, then 30 min intervals for the final 3. Am I indeed crazy, or has the recipe been recently updated? Thanks much!
-lauren
I’m looking at the recipe again and see I must have just read the folds wrong – they are still first 3 at 15 min intervals and last 3 at 30 min.
I updated this post a few weeks ago, yes! Small changes, but it should still be quite similar!
Hi Maurizio,
I’m loving this website. I have learnt so much from it since I first discovered it in March. It has helped me get through this tough year.
With living in Oxford, UK, I have had to make a few adjustments because of the colder climate and I was wondering what your thoughts were on overnight autolyse at room temp (18-19C)? By making my levain overnight at the same time it gives me more time in the day for bulk fermentation.
Thanks again for curating this amazing website.
So glad to hear that, Owen! I’d say give it a try; because the temps are low, it might just be fine with an auto overnight. The concern I have with this dough is that it’s very highly hydrated, a long autolyse might make the dough very, very slack and it’ll be hard to strengthen back up. I’d be interested to hear how it turns out!
You’re welcome and happy baking!
Best sourdough recipe for sure. Can I divide this recipe into 4 small loaves? Does it change cooking time or temperature?
Yes, you certainly can. I’d reduce the total duration and keep the temp the same.